That Summer
by IBelongInTheOC
Summary: The three families in the O.C. all have cabins up on Lake Tahoe. What happens when you put them together for a summer? Surprisingly, a lot.


Marissa Cooper sighed as she looked out the window of her dorm room and out into the city. She turned back towards one of her many suitcases and snapped it shut. She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, and quickly pulled it out to answer it.

"Hey, Sum," she answered.

"Coop! Hey! When does your plane leave?"

"In like, 4 hours. I'm still packing. You know me."

"Uh-huh."

"So, why are you calling? A new love interest? I only just talked to you, like, 2 days ago."

Marissa giggled at her best friend. Everyone who lived in Newport knew that Summer was famous for getting around. She went through guys as fast as her step-mother went through prescription medicine. Marissa was a little more down-to-earth, kind of timid when it came to guys after she had gotten out of a long relationship with her ex-boyfriend Luke. Her mother had sent her to boarding school in New York City for her sophomore year to help her get away from everything. At first, Marissa was horrified at the idea of boarding school, but then came to love it, and wasn't sure that she'd be returning to Harbor the next year. Summer, on the other hand, went to Newport Union, and in everyone else's opinion, was far too pretty to go to public school, but she seemed to be doing well there.

Summer scoffed. "Please, Scott and I are still going strong."

"Ohh, for how long, Sum, three days?"

"Try two weeks. I was thinking of taking him to the cabin with me for a weekend so you could meet him."

Every summer, Summer's family and Marissa's family went to Lake Tahoe, and stayed there for the whole summer. Both families had their own cabins, and it was just by coincidence that they were right next to each other.

"Sounds good to me. Did you know the Cohen's are coming this summer, too? Apparently, Kirsten and Sandy bought this incredible cabin kind of by ours, and they're staying for the whole summer. How Sandy got Kirsten to do it, I'll never know."

Summer sighed. She knew of the Cohen's, but had never actually formally met them. Her dad wasn't really into all of the parties the rich people held, and since he never went to them, Summer never got to go to them. She occasionally went with Marissa, but that was only to birthday parties and events that you didn't have to be invited to.

"That'll be fun. Don't they have a son our age?"

"Yeah, Seth. He went to Harbor with me freshman year. Apparently, they adopted a fugitive from Chino this past year and he's been into all kinds of trouble. Of course, my mother is just horrified. It should be an interesting summer, all of us hanging out."

"Oh, well, at least we'll have some boys."

"Don't even think about it, Summer. I don't want you making things awkward."

"Me? Awkward? Never!"

"Summer, I'm serious."

"Oh, lighten up, Coop! Listen, I have to go meet Scott for dinner. Call me when you get in tonight! Can't wait to see you!"

Marissa rolled her eyes dramatically and flipped her phone shut. She asked her roommate to help her with all of her luggage and then hailed a cab.

"JFK, please," she said, as she climbed into the taxi.

* * *

Summer took off her sunglasses and walked into the quaint little restaurant Scott had picked out for dinner. He greeted her with a kiss on the cheek, and politely pulled her chair out for her.

"What made you think of this place?" She asked, looking at her surroundings.

Scott's cheeks got red. "My family has been coming here for years. It's kind of a tradition. Is it okay?"

Summer smiled, and put her hand over his. "It's perfect."

She hated lying, she thought to herself, as she gritted her teeth.

"So," Scott began, taking a sip of water, "when do you leave for Tahoe?"

"Oh, um, day after tomorrow, I think. We might leave tomorrow, depending on Marissa. We always go along with their schedule, so, I'm not exactly sure."

"Sounds like a blast. Do you guys have a boat there and everything?"

"Yeah, both of our families do. Usually, Marissa and I take the smaller one, and her dad and my dad take the bigger one. We're not really allowed to drive the boats, but we do anyway," she said, winking at him.

He smiled, and Summer looked down at her menu. "Speaking of Tahoe," she began, "do you want to come up with us for a weekend? We could take a separate car, your car, obviously, and then you could drive back down by yourself."

He sighed. "I don't know, Summer," he said, skeptically.

"What do you mean, 'you don't know'?"

"Well, it's just, I don't want to get tied down for the summer, and if I go to Tahoe with you, I think you might get the wrong impression about where this is going for me."

She tried not to let her jaw hit the floor. Were these words actually coming out of this guy's mouth? She regained composure about 5 seconds later.

"I think maybe you got the wrong impression from me, Scott."

"Uh, what?"

"I don't have boyfriends. We go to the same school, you should have probably figured that out by now. I like to go out, have a good time, that sort of thing. I don't like being tied down either, and apparently we should have had this conversation before we even started dating. It would have saved me a lot of time. I could have been off doing other things instead of wasting my time with some pompous ass."

"Um, maybe I should come back later," a curly-haired boy said, leaning over them, ready to take their order.

"No, it's fine. I was just leaving," she said as she stood up, threw her napkin at Scott, and stomped out of the restaurant.

Summer got outside into the somewhat cooler than normal California air. She pulled a cigarette out of her purse and then fumbled to find a light.

"Fuck," she whispered to herself, rummaging around in her purse.

"Um, I think I can help you out."

She looked up from her purse. It was the curly-haired waiter, holding up a green lighter to her face. "Thanks," she said, taking a drag.

They stood in silence as they both smoked their cigarettes. "Sorry about that in there," Summer finally said, motioning her head towards the restaurant.

He kind of chuckled. "Don't worry, I've experienced much worse."

Summer nodded, blowing smoke out of her mouth. "I'm sure. I don't know how you can stand being a waiter."

"The tips don't suck."

She turned to analyze the boy. He had kind of a geeky presence about him that was surprisingly sexy. She shook her head. Forget it. She was leaving in two days. She finished her cigarette and threw it on the ground, stepping on it with her wedge.

"Thanks for the light," she said, pulling out her keys.

"Anytime," he replied, finishing his own. He shuffled his feet as if he was going to say something else, but then he didn't. He turned around, giving her a slight wave, and she watched him as he walked back inside. He got in her car and decided he was a very intriguing young man.

* * *

Summer shoved her suitcases into her trunk as Marissa shoved hers in the backseat of Summer's car. Why they never took two separate ones, neither could tell you. They were inseparable all summer anyway, so it wasn't like it mattered.

"Um, actually, girls," Julie Cooper said, walking down the steps, trying not to fall in her 4-inch heels, "the boys are going to be riding with you."

"Boys? What boys?"

"Seth and Ryan," she said, rather distastefully.

"Um, okay. Why?" Summer asked, putting a hand on her hip.

"Because I'm sure you listen to way better music then our parents do."

Summer turned around to the voice out of nowhere, and her eyes widened. "Diner boy?"

"Napkin girl?"

Summer rolled her eyes. She was suddenly very annoyed at this guy.

"We thought it might be nice if you all got to know each other since you'll practically be spending the whole summer together," Kirsten said, stepping from behind Seth.

"I'm Kirsten Cohen, by the way, I don't believe we've met," she said, extending a hand to Summer.

Summer smiled sweetly. "No, we haven't, but I've heard a lot about you. It's nice to finally meet you."

"Marissa, this is Ryan, and of course you know Seth," Kirsten said, turning to Ryan. Ryan gave Marissa a quick nod, and then one to Summer.

"And I, of course, am Seth," Seth said, holding out his hand for Summer to take. "I'm sure you've heard a lot about me as well?"

"Actually, not really."

"Oh, well, you're in for a treat, then."

"Let's get this show on the road," Sandy Cohen said, appearing out of Marissa's house with Jimmy.

"That's my husband, Sandy," Kirsten said, pointing to the man with the bushy eyebrows. Summer nodded.

"Hey, Mr. C.," she said, giving him a little wave.

"You must be Summer," he said, ignoring what Jimmy was talking about and walking towards her.

She nodded, and shook his hand. "I find it strange that I've never met you, but I guess we have all summer to get to know each other, huh?"

She nodded politely once more, and then looked at Seth, finally understanding where he got his personality from. Seth winked at her, leaning up against the car.

"Let's get a move on, shall we?" Marissa said.

"I call shotgun!" Seth yelled jumping in the car.

"No way am I driving next to you for a bazillion hours."

"We can trade off, Summer, it's not a big deal."

"That's not what I'm worried about, Marissa."

Just as soon as Marissa was about to get in, Kirsten pulled her aside. "Ryan doesn't talk much at first, but don't let that discourage you. He really is a sweet kid."

Marissa nodded at her, and ducked her head under the roof of the car.

* * *

3 hours and 5 restroom stops later, Seth pulled out a pack of cigarettes. "Anyone want one?" He asked, handing one to Summer. Summer shook her head.

Marissa got a disgusted look on her face. "Since when did you take up smoking, Sum?"

"Good job, Cohen," Summer said, giving him an irritated look.

"Oops."

"I don't smoke on a regular basis, Coop, I just enjoy one every once in a while."

Marissa rolled her eyes. She turned to Ryan. "How about you, Ryan? Do you smoke?"

"Uh," he began, looking at her nervously, "I used to. Not so much anymore."

"Ryan has reformed," Seth said, turning towards Marissa, "he used to be a bad boy, but he's decided to pass those traits on to me. I'm the troublemaker in the family now."

Ryan rolled his eyes. "That isn't true. It took Seth 16 whole years to get drunk for his very first time, and he landed himself a black eye and a very pissed off Kirsten."

Summer laughed, and looked in the rearview mirror at Marissa. "Coop, you all right back there?"

"Yeah, I was just thinking about how I've never been drunk."

Seth spit out the water that he had been drinking. "Marissa Cooper? Never been drunk? But I've heard so many stories about you."

"Yeah, when I was with Luke. I just used to go to parties with him, he'd get drunk, and then try to take advantage of me and forget that I wasn't drunk. You have to remember that Luke is a year older. I'd always end up driving him home, even though I was a freshman and barely had my permit."

"He sounds like a winner," she heard Ryan say quietly.

"Yeah, well, hence the reason why I'm not dating him anymore."

They were silent for a while, and Seth looked back. "Don't worry, we'll get you drunk this summer. Even tonight, maybe."

Marissa furrowed her brow at Seth. She had known him almost all of her life, they had taken baths together, and she suddenly noticed a huge change about him that she couldn't quite put her finger. She just smiled appreciatively at him, and leaned her head back, trying to fall asleep.

It was going to be an interesting summer.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, so it's kind of a new approach to things. I got bored with my other story, but I'm still working on it, so for all of its fans, I'm sorry, I'm trying.**

**Marissa is a lot different in this story, not so much a party animal at all, more focused on school, and being a role model.**

**Seth is kind of a bad boy. You'll soon find out some interesting things that happened over the past year. He's sort of popular at school, and isn't a nerd at all. **

**Ryan is sort of the second season Ryan plus the first season Ryan all in one. He's the quiet one, focused on school, and stuff, but he still likes to party. **

**Summer is a slut. Only one word for it, and she doesn't go to Harbor. I think that's pretty much all the changes.**

**Let me know what you think!**


End file.
